FalconWatch

We've got three girls and a boy!

The banding was a success and representatives from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as well as the Raptor Recovery Center determined that Zeus and Hera are the proud parents of three healthy females and one male. Male peregrines are smaller than the female so it is easy to tell right now which one is the male. The Name the Falcons contest, hosted by KMTV Action 3 News will begin Monday, June 1 and run through Monday, June 15. A panel of judges will select and reveal the top 12 names submitted on Monday, June 22. The public can then vote for the top four names through Monday, June 29. Winners will receive a framed photo of the falcon they helped name. For full contest details, please visit the KMTV website early next week at http://www.kmtv.com/.

Today is banding day.

Our cameras will be down for a while as we retrieve the chicks from the box and band them. The staff from Rapture Recovery Nebraska – Denise Lewis, Betsy Finch and Janet Stander – will be banding, taking blood samples and checking the overall health of the chicks while they have them inside. And of course as this is happening, Zeus and Hera will be circling overhead. Photos will be posted, as well as a video, as soon as we can. Stay tuned to find out how many females and males were hatched. And don't forget to enter the Name the Falcons contest sponsored by Action 3 News. Details to follow.

Our view from inside

Jerry Underwood, falcon photographer, sneaks a shot at the babies trying not to disturb mother and father too much.

It's been 14 days since they first started hatching.

And look how fast they are growing! They are too big for Zeus and Hera to sit on them. Their one-kill meal has increased in frequency. They are able to hold their heads up and waddle around. And occasionally they are flapping their uh wings, or what are going to be their wings.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 8

Day 13

They look like cotton balls with beaks.

And then there were four. It's hard to tell in this photo, but there are four little ones. Our first and second hatches were at the end of last week and the final two hatches were sometime this weekend. All four are doing fine. The box will start to get crowded now as they grow. And they will be growing by leaps and bounds. Soon Hera and Zeus will not be able to sit over all four. We will band them before they are able to fly away. Banding has been scheduled for Thursday, May 28. It's hard to believe that they will develop into the sleek birds that their parents are. Keep watching as their down disappears and their feathers start to grow in.

Down the hatch!

I can't quite tell what's for breakfast. Starling maybe? Anyway both babies were fed and are now resting under Zeus.

Where's breakfast?

And now we have two babies!

Let the hatching begin!

Sometime during the night one of the eyas (chicks) hatched. He's a little awkward and needs help staying upright, but Hera manages to nudge him under her wing. You can also see a piece of the shell in the box. We should see another one hatch soon.

Check out those shiny eggs!

I just got a glance of the four eggs as Zeus left the box and Hera took over. She really has to wiggle a lot to make sure she is completely over every egg. And as the babies grow she will start spreading her wings to cover all of them. We should be seeing some hatching soon.

What's in a name?

Have you been thinking of names for the chicks when they hatch? Hatching will soon begin. When the chicks are a few weeks old they will be tagged and we will find out how many are female and how many are male. Many of you falcon followers are already coming up with good ideas for names. Hold on to those names and submit them in our falcon naming contest coming soon.